Overview of the Northern Ireland Audit Office

This document provides a brief overview of the functions of the Northern Ireland Audit Office (NIAO) and its work for the Northern Ireland Assembly (the Assembly) and each department. The NIAO is a public sector body that is totally independent of government. Our role is to help the Assembly hold the Northern Ireland Executive to account for the way it spends public money. We do this by auditing the finances of public bodies and scrutinising public spending to assess facts and value for the taxpayer, providing insights into how well public services are being delivered.